


A Small Price for Love

by TheSettStan



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Gay, Internal Conflict, M/M, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:55:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24637942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSettStan/pseuds/TheSettStan
Summary: Just a little Settphel fanfic I wrote. Thought it was decent enough to put it on here.
Relationships: Aphelios/Sett (League of Legends)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 85





	A Small Price for Love

COUGH, COUGH!

The sound of hacking disturbed Sett’s peaceful slumber in the early morning, making the half-vastayan turn over with a soft grumble from his throat. It was too early for him to respond.

COUGH, COUGH!

But there it was again, that loud and mildly irritating noise, being muffled somewhat. This time, the half-vastayan furrowed his brows in annoyance as he tried his best to stay asleep. But continuing to hear, he turned over again, towards where his partner was sleeping.

“Babe...” He grumbled quietly, slowly opening his yellow and drowsy eyes. “The ‘ell’s goin’ on…?”

There was no response. Which would be normal considering his boyfriend, Aphelios, was mute. But there was no physical response either, no finger tapping or back rubbing or kiss on the forehead to tell him to shut up and go back to sleep. Not one indication at all.

“Babe?” The Boss mumbled, slowly blinking as he tried to focus his vision in. “...Babe?”

Sett tried to feel where Aphelios would be sleeping, but all he felt was the nice and soft bed sheets he tried to wash yesterday, but his Ma took over. It took a few moments of bed feeling to realize. His lunar babe wasn’t there.

“Babe?” Sett sat up, looking around the darkened room. “...Aph?”

Aphelios was nowhere to be seen. However, the light behind the bathroom door was lit up, despite being somewhere between 3 to 4 A.M. Quickly, and tiredly, Sett scrambled out of the bed and staggered over to the bathroom, almost knocking down various items and decorations in the room.

Without thinking much, he opened the door and was immediately blinded almost fully by the bright lights. But through his temporarily poor eyesight, he could see the blurred figure of his partner. 

“Babe?” Sett asked, rubbing his left eye with the side of his index finger. “What are you doin’ up so late?"

Aphelios let out a small gasp as his eyes widened, dropping something onto the floor. He quickly covered his mouth.

Sett's ears perked and shifted once he heard an object drop. "What are you up to?" He stepped closer, realizing Aphelios was covering his mouth like he was hiding something. "Hey, are you...okay?"

Aphelios vigorously shook his head yes, which only made him more suspicious. Trying his best not to raise any more suspicion than he already has, he used his foot to try and nudge the bowl he dropped away.

The half-vastayan's expression grew concerned. "Seriously, what's going on? Why are you covering your mouth?" He got closer to Aphelios, their faces not too far from each other. He grabbed his partner's wrist gently and removed it from his face. "If it's just a little zit it's not that big of a deal-"

When he removed the hand from Aphelios' mouth, all he saw was streaks of dark red liquid, no. Blood. Trickling down his chin, and smudged onto his palm.

Sett's vastayan ears ears flattened as his face grew fearful. "A-Aph!? What happened?" He asked in a commanding yet fearful tone.

Aphelios looked scared as well. The Targonian darted his eyes around the room, too frightened to even glance at Sett. His eyes locked onto the strange looking bowl, as he tried to push it away more, this time kicking it.

However, Sett was much quicker on the draw. He picked up the strangely designed bowl and looked it over. "The 'ell? What's ..this?" He asked, his eyes still filled with worry. 

The half-vastayan, inspecting it further, noticed a small trace of a liquid inside. He slowly dipped his index finger into it, and sniffed it. Sett cringed at the horrid stench it gave off, and quickly wiped it off on a towel near him. "Babe, please, tell me what's going on. You're coughin' up blood and drinking stuff that smells like crap, that ain't sitting in my stomach exactly."

Aphelios' jaw tightened as he turned his head away. He let out a sharp but quiet exhale as he looked away.

Sett lifted his boyfriend's chin up. "Aph, look at me," He softly commanded. "I know you don't like to talk but please, tell me what's wrong. I hate not knowin' what's up cause I want t'help, you know? I just want to be there for you 'cause I care and love you."

Although he had much resistance and unwillingness, Aphelios couldn't help but look into Sett's eyes. Seeing those piercing yet saddened golden eyes staring right back at him, he couldn't help but feel sorrowful as well. It was tough for him to not explain to the half-vastayan, but not only would it be difficult to explain without speaking, he had doubts Sett would be fine with it. Aphelios broke eye contact and lowered his gaze.

Upon seeing his somber appearance, Sett put down the bowl and pulled Aphelios into a gentle and warm embrace, resting his chin on top of his boyfriend's raven coloured hair. "You don't have t'tell me if you don't want to," Sett admitted with a sigh. "I just want to do everything I can to make sure you're safe."

Aphelios slowly wrapped his arms around the taller man, letting his head rest against his bare torso. It made the Targonian happy that Sett was understanding if he didn't want to exactly share. Though...he still felt awful about leaving his boyfriend in the dark like that. He told himself in his head that maybe it was the right thing to tell him what was going on. Aphelios didn't want Sett to feel so worried about him. Breaking away from the pleasant hug, he ambled past his half-vastayan love to walk back into the bedroom.

Sett watched curiously as Aphelios went over to the nightstand, and hovered his hand over the nightstand closer to where the Targonian slept. He grabbed one of them and made his way back into the bathroom. Once he made his way back into the light, Sett realized he was holding a piece of paper in his hand.

"I, uh…" The half-vastayan scratched the side of his pinkish-red hair. "I'm not really following Aph."

Aphelios let out a tiny sigh. Sett could only again observe curiously, and yawn a little as his boyfriend picked up the fancy looking ink brush that was lying on top of the nightstand as well before he started to let the brush flow across the flat surface to form words. When Aphelios was done, he turned around and handed the paper to the other.

The half-vastayan had to squint to be able to see, and he read what he could.

That liquid allows me to communicate through my sister through a mind link. I use it to talk to her frequently.

"Sister?” Sett tilted his head, looking up from the paper. “You have a sister?”

Aphelios nodded, a little hesitantly.

'Her name is Alune.'

“Huh, pretty name,” He complimented. “Then why were you coughin' so badly?" The half-vastayan asked worriedly.

Aphelios took back the paper and wrote on it some more.

'It is one of the drawbacks of the liquid, though, I should admit that it is in fact, poison.'

Sett's heart skipped a beat as he read that last word. "P-Poison…?" He asked, his vastayan ears flattening again. "That'll kill you Aph…"

'It is not harmful to me if I drink only a little of it. But I accidentally drank too much of it this time, and that is why I coughed up my blood.'

"Why in the middle o'the night though? Was it somethin' important?"

Aphelios hesitated this time to write, he hovered the ink brush over the paper for a few moments, before he took a deep breath and began to let the brush flow.

'I had a nightmare. The coliseum was a blaze, many people were killed, burned, or in the midst of burning alive, and you were down in the pit arena, beaten to a pulp and about to become kill fodder by figures I couldn’t make out. I tried to run towards you, but I was held back. I could hear myself screaming out your name but it did nothing. When I woke up, I was scared. I ran to the bathroom and tried to talk to my sister to see what it meant. I was so terrified that it would become true and-'

Aphelios put a pause in his writing. He couldn't finish his paragraph before tears started to fall from his eyes. Sett reacted quickly, pulling him into another hug.

"Shh...it's okay, it's okay," The half-vastayan assured Aphelios in a soft tone, rubbing his back gently. He read what he could of the slightly soaked paper before speaking again. "It was just a bad dream. I wouldn't let anyone beat me to a pulp, not unless I beat them into one first."

Aphelios looked up at him and tried to smile. He appreciated the attempt to try and cheer him up, but not as much as he appreciated the hug. It put him at ease knowing Sett was alright, that it was just a dream. But what he saw still scared him. Though, the tired lunari let out a long and silent yawn, letting his body lean onto the other's taller frame.

Suddenly, a thought came over the half-vastayan. "Is that poison...the reason why you can't talk?"

Aphelios rubbed his face against Sett's chest, nodding. He broke away to write on the paper again.

'It's only temporary, but I use it so much there are not a lot of opportunities where I can speak. Though, it's the only way I can speak with my sister.'

Sett had a deep respect for that statement. He admired how his lunari boyfriend would choose his family over a bodily function one would use daily. It also hit home, letting his mind reminisce about all the times Sett would promise his Ma he'd protect her no matter what.

His memories were cut off though, by Aphelios letting out a long and silent yawn. He attempted to bury his face further into Sett's torso.

"Yeah, I'm tired too," Sett softly chuckled. "We should be gettin' to bed again, it's really late for both o'us." He may have been tired, but wasn't tired enough to pick up his boyfriend. He carried him back to the bed and put Aphelios down gently, but not letting go of him either.

Aphelios pulled himself as close as he could to the half-vastayan, snuggling himself into the other. Like he was about to be pried off and taken away, and he was holding on for dear life.

Sett smiled softly as he wrapped his arm around Aphelios tighter before he brushed the hair away on his partner's pale forehead with his hand, planting a soft kiss onto it. "Goodnight Aph," He spoke quietly into his ear. "I love you…"

Aphelios replied with a tiny smile. After a few moments, he looked up at his boyfriend to see his softly smiling face again. However, the half-vastayan was already passed out.

Aphelios, chuckling through his nose, laid his head on Sett’s bare torso, feeling a wave of relaxation as it rose up and down.

It was a lot for Aphelios to admit, but he was glad Sett at the very least understood why. In all honesty, he thought the half-vastayan would have a much more vast and panicked reaction. Maybe it was because it was four in the morning.

But, something else was stirring in his mind, something he didn't reveal to his partner. When he was scared, he tried to go back to his sister, Alune. The very person he was trying to get away from ever since he escaped from the Lunari.

Aphelios wondered if he truly was that dependent on her and her guidance. That he would come crawling back to her in situations as minor as a bad dream. Perhaps it was out of instinct, like his muscle memory of killing, or purely because being so early in the morning he wasn’t thinking correctly. 

But now that he recollected his thoughts, he mentally put himself down. Telling himself in his head how idiotic he was for trying to go back to his sister. He was ever so thankful he mistakenly drank too much of the poison to communicate with Alune, as communicating with her would most likely end up as a living nightmare. Although, the amount he consumed enough to harm him. Aphelios rubbed his throat as the stinging feeling lingered.

The more he pondered and wondered in his head, the more lost he became in all of it. Was it really the best call? Did drinking too much end up saving his life and free will? The only thing that managed to snap him out of it was the sound of Sett beginning to snore.

Looking up at him again, Aphelios couldn’t help but let his lips curve up into a gentle smile. The half-vastayan was probably the only thing keeping his sanity intact here in this hellhole of brawls. If there was one thing he didn’t expect, it would be the man who practically ran the entire underground world taking a notice for him.

It wasn’t easy adjusting from living under a strict religion and a brainwashing sister to a place of free will and the very thing he despised, but he would rather live through the latter than with the former Lunari. People down here in the pits, actually cared for him. Sett’s mother treated him like her own son, but he still didn’t understand what she meant by “wedding” and “married” and all of those peculiar and unknown terms. If only Sett wasn’t too bashful and embarrassed whenever he brought it up.

But despite all that, Aphelios was very happy with his new way of life. He was glad he managed to break away from that horrendous place he called a home to, and wind up at a slightly terrifying but more welcoming location. And through all of this, he had Sett. Someone who truly cared for him. Someone who the Targonian can say he truly loved.

Though, it didn’t sit well in his stomach how he only told a small fraction of the true story. He didn’t want Sett to panic and grow overprotective since his people and his religion may have been hunting him down at that very moment, desperately attempting to bring him back by force if needed. Aphelios knew so much of Sett in the small portion of a year he had known him, his boyfriend would most likely have an iron gripped hug around the Targonian if he told them how he stumbled into Ionia and into the pits, although, at the very least, it would be a hug.

After gazing at the half-vastayan for an amount of time anyone else would probably find uncomfortable, Aphelios scooted up and placed a soft and tender kiss upon Sett’s forehead. Looking over his resting face once more before he scooted back down. Draping Sett’s other arm around him, and snuggling upon his body, he shut his tired eyes and soon, drifted back into his land of dreams...


End file.
